BAKU: Representatives of the Azerbaijani ‘Silk Road’ Public Union for Promotion of Development of Entrepreneurship, Indonesian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Husnan Bay Fananie and part of the embassy staff are on a working visit in Indonesia. The delegation from Azerbaijan visited Jakarta to attend the Trade Expo Indonesia 2016 exhibition, the embassy told Trend on October 17. Azerbaijani entrepreneurs also held meetings in different Indonesian cities in search of opportunities to establish various business cooperation between the parties.
Within the visit, they have already discussed the possibility of abolishing visa regime for tourists from Indonesia, as well as the launch of a direct flight Baku – Jakarta. Annually, over one million Indonesians visit the holy city of Mecca for Hajj pilgrimage, the Indonesian Embassy in Baku said. “During one of meetings we discussed the possibility of sending those tourists back to Indonesia through Azerbaijan, if the visa regime for Indonesian tourists is cancelled.”
Moreover, other types of cooperation, expansion of imports and exports between the countries are considered during the visit to Indonesia. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $101.73 million in the first nine months of 2016, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee.
The trade between Azerbaijan and Indonesia is mostly related to the energy sector, as Azerbaijan is the second biggest supplier of crude oil to Indonesia after Saudi Arabia. Indonesia has been importing crude oil directly from Azerbaijan since 2015. A total of 400,000-600,000 barrels of oil annually are imported to Indonesia from Azerbaijan. In addition, Indonesia buys mazut oil from Azerbaijan. Overall, in recent years Indonesia has been the third largest trade partner of Azerbaijan.
In March, Azerbaijan and Indonesia drafted a memorandum of understanding to further deepen cooperation in the energy and mineral resources sectors. Moreover, the Indonesian government encouraged the country’s state oil and gas company Pertamina to invest in Azerbaijan’s oil and gas projects. Last year, the Indonesian delegation visited Baku to discuss energy cooperation and consider opportunities for the joint work with Azerbaijan, which has huge experience in the oil and gas industry.
